Process of making concrete blocks



2 Sheets-Sheet l w.- H. CAREY Llllxlllll l Llrnllllllll |||||||||L||r|||||||| ATTORNEY Filed April 15 PROCESS OF MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS May l, 1923 WITN ESSES May 1, 1923. 1,453,746

w. H. CAREY PROCESS OF MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS Filed April '15, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 INVENTOR WLZZuUz/ff. ZIQQ, l WITNEssEs www EY ATTOR N EY Patented May 1, 1923.

- maar WILLIAM H. CAREY, OF WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WISCONSIN.

PROCESS F MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS.

Application led April 15, 1922. Serial No. 552,979.

To all whom it may conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, lVILLrAM H. CAREY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Visconsin Rapids, in the county of lVood and State of lVisztonsin, have invented a new and useful Process of Making Concrete Blocks. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process of making concrete blocks, either hollow or solid; and has for its object the'production of blocks from concrete by a novel process,

wherein the conc-rete while being .delivered to the molds in simultaneously subje^ted to av jarring action, which in turn is aided by the pressure of the concrete within the .hopper applied above the molds, whereby there is obtained a superior product of great density and at a reduced cost which is not possible with any other concrete machine. Another feature of the process involves the subjection of the concrete blocks to the action of any kind of artificial heat, preferably steam in a closed chamber for a number of hours.

A still further feature is the gradual decreasing of the jarring of the molds as the latter are moved toward the steam chest the jarring entirely ceasing when the steam chest has beenreached.

The invention 4will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed `description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing in the drawing, but may be`changed and modltied so long as such changes and modications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as eX- pressed in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a complete hrick'or block making machine, in which my 'lmproved process may be carried out.

Flg. 2 is a side elevation of the forward end of the concrete brick making machine.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through' the hopper. molds and proximate parts.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the carriage which supports the hopperf` the latter being omitted.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the `opposite sides of each rail.

floor of a building to which are secured vertical standards 2, 3, 4 and 5. Upon the top of standards 3 and 4 are rigidly mounted transverse I-beams or anvils 6 and 6a, adapted to support the outer ends of pairs of spaced rails 7 and 7, respectively, forming tracks for the traveling carrier 8, upon which are mounted rows of molds 9, grooved wheels 10 of the carrier being adapted to ride on the heads of the rails 7 and 7a.

The rails 7 resting on the anvil 6 are maintained in position at their forward ends by means of spaced lugs l1 embracing The 'rails 7 extend rearwardly towards the forward entrance of a steam curing or hardening chest 12 and are spaced from and pivotally connected to the end of spaced rails 7a which extend outwardly of the forward end of the curing chamber by means of straps 57 bolted to the rails 7. The straps have a pivotal connection, at 58, with the ends of rails 7, The adjacent ends of the rails 7 and 7a, where pivotally connected together by the straps 57, rest. on an anvil 59 which is supported by standards 3a. The ends of rails 7*1 are secured to said anvil. The plm pose of such mounting of the rails will be presently explained. The steam chest isl supported by means of pairs of spaced col` umns 14 resting upon the floor 1.

The spaced rails 7 which extend longif` tudinally of the steam chest 12, and are sek'.

cured to the floor 13 of the steam chest,"`pr,o

ject beyond the rear end of the steam chestff` and are supported on the anvil 6a mounted upon the standard 4.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that only -a portion of the traveling carrier 8 is supplied with molds 9, and that such portion is slightly shorter than the length of the steam chest 12. so that when all themolds 9 have been filled and moved into the steam chest 12, gravity-operated doors 15 and 16, respectively located at'the inner and outer ends of the steam chest, are closed automatically to preventthe escape of steam, which is' admitted through a ypipe l17 to the4 interior of the chest. Drain pipes 18 are provided to relieve the chest of the water which forms when the steam. becomes chilled hv the molds and the concrete. I, The traveling carrier 8 is formed of links 19 pivotally joued'and engaged by a paix.;

The sprocket wheels are provided in theirA outer peripheries withsemi-circular recesses 25 in which are adapted to be seated the grooved wheels 10.

pair of spaced sprocket wheels 47 are mounted beyond the rear end of steam chest 12 upon a shaft 48. flhese sprocket wheels are similar in construction to the sprocket wheels 20, and are provided with the similar semi-circular recesses 25 adapted to seat the rollers 10 and drive the traveling carrier 8. The shaft 48 is supported in hearings provided on horizontal beams 26, which vare mounted upon the vertical standards 4 and 5 braced lby bars 27.

Supported by rails 28 above the molds 9 is a traveling hopper 29 mounted upon carriage 30, the carnage being provided with wheels 31 adapted to ride on the rails 28.

Mounted on the carriage 30 is a jigging mechanism for jarring the molds and the concrete mixture being lled in the molds, which consists of a motor.32 provided with a pinion 33 inmesh with a gear 34 mounted upon a shaft 35. The said shaft extends beyond the gear. 34, and is provided with cams 36 adapted to engage with lingers 37 formed on the outer end of levers 38 which are pivoted at 39 on opposite sides of the carriage 30. The other ends of the levers are connected by means of links 40 to jigger arms 41, having their lower free ends 1nturned as at 41 (Fig. 3) so'as to engage beneath the ends ofA the rails 7 in close proximity to the anvils 6.

A sleeve 42, slidably mounted upon ,the 'reduced lower end or neck 43 of the hopper 29, is provided with a' frame 44, having rollers 45 rotatably mounted upon the front and rear ends of said sleeve, so that as the molds 9 pass beneath the rollers 45, the concrete delivered from the hopper 29 will be rolled oil' evenly to form a flat surface for the upper ends of the concrete block, and this also providing a means for removin excess concrete from the tops of the mol s.

` The molds may be employed for either hollow or solid concrete blocks, and in the case of hollow blocks, six molds are placed in rows with at least 250 rows of molds mounted longitudinally and consecutively on the carrier 8. In the case of standard bricks rename or solid blocks, ten molds are employed iu` a row, with at least 250 rows mounted on a portion of the carrier 8. Furthermore, where a very lar e output is required, I install-'several of these machines side by side, wherein all the traveling carriers are driven by their respective driving sprockets 47 mounted on a single long shaft 48, while all the molds of the di'erent machines are fed by a single hopper 29 adapted to be moved transversely of the machines tracks 28.

The hopper 29 is supplied with concrete material by means of the usual elevator buckets (not shown), which are carried on tracks 46 mounted in any approved manner above the hopper 29.

rlhe buckets are supplied with a mixture of concrete, which l will term a normal consistency mixture, and which, when referred to as such throughout the specification and claims, comprehends a mixture formed byl adding only a suilicient amount of water, no more or no less, to the con- -crete than is necessary to provide aconcrete mixture of ideal plastic consistency, which produces' the 'strongest and most waterproof product possible, to distinguish it from the sloppy or lwet mixture as one extreme and the damp mixture having insufficient water, as the other, which can only Vbe employed in other known brick making machines because such machines are incapable of jarring the wet concrete mixture, and in case of the Semi-dry or damp mixture machine, since the product must be removed at once from the machine, the concrete cannot contain enough water to produce the best pr duct, for if suilicient water were added to make such a product, the same would slump out of shape when removed.

When all the molds have been completely filled, and the last row of molds onvthe travcling carrier has enteredthe steam chest, and the gravity-operated door 15 has closed automatically. a clutch 55 controlling the spockets 47 is thrown out by operating the rod 56 (Fig. 1) whereby the traveling carrier 8 is stopped, whereupon steam is admitted to the steam chest through pipe 17 for curing and hardening the bricks.

After several hours of curing in the steam chamber 12, the sprockets 47 vare again rotated by throwing in the clutch 55 by rod 56, whereupon the driving shaft 48 rotates said sprockets. and moves the travelingl carrier rearwardly out of the rear end of the steam chest. carrying the molds 9` with the completed bricks, to a picker machine or unloading machine 49, which is provided with jaws 50 that grip the bricks and deposit them on an endless beiL 5l.. from which they are conveyed to some other part of the brick making plant for storage or transportation.

In case of solid bricks, al1 endless belt is on the l Lasarte placed sufiiciently below and near to the descending molds traveling around sprockets 47 for receiving the cured bricks, which fall out of the molds onto the endless belt, anc from whence they are conveyed to the gravity roller carriage 52, whereby they are carried to some other part of the brick making shed or plant. As the molds emerge from the steam chest, the cores are contracted by a cooling fluid, such as oil, forced through a pipe 53, and the latches 54' of the molds are then opened by a tripping device 54 mounted beyond the rea-r end of the steam chest. as more fully disclosed in my companion application hereinafter referred to.

l'n carrying out my improved continuous process of forming either hollow or solid bricks in the molds 9, the hopper 29 which is kept lled by the usual buckets (not shown) is placed over the first few rows of molds by moving the carriage 3() along the rails 28. The concrete-from the hopper isl deposited into the molds, and at the same time it is jarred and pressed into said molds by the jigger in the following manner:

Motor 32 is started, causing gears 33, 34 to be rotated and likewise fcams 36, the cams making about one hundred revolutions per minute. Said cams engage fingers 37 and force the same downwardly, thereby depressing one end of lever 38 and raising links 40 and jigger arms 41, also raising the forward ends of rails 7 and that portion of the length of the traveling carrier 8, as well as the molds riding on said rails 7, and the sleeve 42, the concrete mixtilre filling zinto the molds from the hopper against the weight of the concrete in said hopper, whereby the concrete in the molds is rammed and pressed into said molds. When the cam 36 passes finger 37, said finger will drop back to its normal position by reason of the weight of the rails 7 carried by the arms 41, and said rails will suddenly fall on anvil 6 and be abruptly stopped. This action gives a succes.

sion of jars to the concrete which causes the yconcrete to settle in the molds, and as the hopper is kept full, the weight of the material therein contributes a distinct ramming and pressingr efi'ect toithe concrete in the molds. ln other words, each time the molds are raised and lowered. the material in the hopper is correspondingly elevated and dropped. Since the cam 36 is rotated about one hundred times a minne, it will be seen that a simultaneous jarring, ramming Cand pressing action will be given to the concrete mixture in the molds,.which will be thoroughly packed and evenly spread throughout the interior of the molds, insuring bricks of great density.

The rails 7, at their forward ends, are movably mounted in guides 11 on the anvil 6. while the rear ends are pivoted at 58, which forms' in mt a "e mounting. for

the rails 7 near the steam chest 12. rlhis results in the front ends of the rails being elevated higher than their rear ends, whereby the jarring action will be greatest in the neighborhood of the anvil 6. As the molds are moved away from the anvil 6 toward the steam chest, the jarring action will be continued but with a forcey which gradually diminishes in proportion to the distance that the molds are moved away from said anvil, until when the molds and the traveling carrier pass beyond the point 57 and into the steam chest, the molds are no longer adected by the jarring action or the jigger, and the concrete in the molds will be at rest.

lt will be seen `from Fig. 1, that only a portion of the carrier 8 is equipped with molds. rlhe object of this construction is to provide a series of rows of molds on a. portion of the traveling carrier and which is just sufhcient to completely fill the length of the steam chest 12, with the door 15 automatically closing behind the last row of the series after it has passed within the chest. When the last mold passes within the steam chest 12, the clutch is thrown out and the movement of the carrier stopped.

Steam is admitted to the steam chest through the pipe 17 and continued for several hours, which will be aV sumcient length of time for thoroughly hardening the concrete bricks.

While the bricks in the first machine of the series are being cured, the process of filling, jarring, ramming and pressing the concrete mixture in the molds is carried on in succession in the other machines of the series all within the space of eight hours, sb that slightly before the last molds have been run into their individual steam chambers, .the curing of the bricks in the steam` chest of the irst machine has been completed. At this time the clutch of the first machine is thrown in, whereby the sprockets 47 are revolved to drive the carrier 8 and to carry the molds out of the steam chest 12, where as they emerge from the steam chest, the dummy 9a engages and raises the hinged door 16 and the undersides of the cores are sprayed with a cold luid, such as oil, in order to contract the cores and release the cured bricks from the sides of the cores, so that when they reach the picker or unloading machine 49, the fingers 50 may grip the bricks and pick them out, placing the same upon a traveling endless belt, thence to the gravity-operated traveling carrier 5l to be carried to some other part of the'plant, or in the case oisolid bricks, the cured bricks are permitted to fall out of the molds at a. certain point in the travel of the mold carrier onto an endless brit.

rlhe method is continuous, and requires three shifts of operators in a period. of

twenty-four hours, each Shift llng'lthe molds, curing the bricks in the molds, and removin said bricks from the molds of all the mac ines within eight hours. j

'I consider the method of filling the molds, jarring, ramming and pressing the concrete in the molds by my improved process to be broadly new, as far as l am aware. The jarring of the molds is aided by the ramming pressure given by the weight of the mixed concrete contained in the hopper, the

jarring being simultaneous with the placing of the material in the molds and decreasing as the molds are moved towards the steam chest.

rlhe filling of the molds is carried on continuously from the time the first rows of' molds come beneath the hopper until the last of the molds enters the steam chest. Moreover, the operation of the jigging mechanism on the molds is continuous while they are being lled and until the last mold has entered the steam chest. This insures a large output from the machine without any deterioration in the quality of the product obtained.

The complete brick making machine forms the subject-matter of my co-pending application led of even date herewith Serial No. 552,980.

What is claimedisz- 1. That process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds with concrete mixture, packing the mixture into a compact mass therein and subsequently conveying the filled molds into aclosed compartment and subjecting the concrete while still in the molds to the action of artificial heat for curing the same.

2. That process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds while being moved with a concrete mixture, simultaneously jarring the molds while being filled, and continuing the jarring action but with diminished force as the molds are moved away from the source of supply.

3. Ilhat process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds with a concrete mixture from a hopper with the material in the hopper directly over the molds, simultaneously jarrin the concrete in the hopper and in the mo ds so that the weight of the concrete in the hopper will press the concrete firmly in themolds and subsequently conveying the filled molds into a closed compartment and subjecting the concrete while still in the molds to the action of artilicial heat and moisture for curing the sanne.

4. That process of making concrete blocks in molds having cores which consists in filling the molds with a concrete mixture, jarthe same to form the mixture into a compact mass, subsequently conveying the filled molds into a closed compartment and subjecting the concrete while still in the molds to the action of agtificial heat for intente l several hours, then conveying the molds from the curing compartment and subjecting the cores to the action of a cold fluid to cause the cores to contract and release the blocks from the molds.`

5. That process of making concrete blocks, which consists in filling molds with a concrete mixture from a hopper which is located directly overy the molds and simultaneously raising the molds and raising the concrete in the hopper, and suddenly dropping the molds and the concrete in thehopper whereby the concrete in the molds is jammed, rammed and pressed into the molds by the weight of the concrete in the hopper then subjecting the concrete while still in the molds to the action of artificial heat and moisture for several hours.

6. rlhat process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds while being moved with a normal consistency mixture of concrete from a hopper, and simultaneously jarring the concrete in the molds and simultaneously jarring the concrete as it is being filled into the molds from the hopper, whereby the concrete in the molds is rammed by the weight of the concrete in the hopper, and continuing the jarring action on the concrete in the molds after they leave the hopper with a force which gradually diminishes in proportion to the distance that the molds are moved away from the hopper.

7. 'llhat process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds while being moved with a Vconcrete mixture from a hopper with the latter directly over the molds and the material therein pressing on the material in the molds, simultaneously jarring the concrete in the molds and ramming the concrete in the molds by the weight of the concrete in the hopper, then continuing the jarring action on the concrete in the molds with a force which gradually diminishesin proportion to the distance that the molds are moved away from the hopper, and then conveying the molds into a closed chest and subjecting the concrete in the molds to the action of artificial heat for several hours.

8. rilhat process of making concrete blocks which consists in filling molds while` being moved with a concrete mixture, simultaneously jarring the concrete while filling the molds, then continuing the jarring action on the concrete in the filled molds with a force which graduallydiminishes in proportion to the distance that the molds are moved away from the source of supply, conveying the filled molds into a closed curing chamber and subjecting them to the action of artificial heat, for several hours, then conveying the molds from the curing chamber and subjecting the cores to the action of a cold fluid such as oil-to cause the cores to contract and release the blocks from the molds.

.9. That process of making concrete blocks tao which consists in filling molds while being moved with a normal consistency mixture of concretefrom a hopper, simultaneously jarring the concrete while being filled into the molds, continuing the jarring action on the filled molds with a force which gradually diminishes in proportion to the distance that the molds are moved away from the hopper f and at the Sametime rolling and removing excess concrete from the top of the molds, and while the concrete is still plastic conveying the filled molds into a closed chest and subjecting the'concrete to the action "of articia heat,`for several hours to cure the blocks.

` l0. That process of making concrete blocks which consistsin filling the molds with a normal consistency mixture of concrete while they are being moved, simultaneously jarringthe concretewhile the molds are being filled, and while the concrete is still plastic conveying the filled molds into a. closed chest and subjecting the blocks to the action of artificial heat, for several hours, Yand continuing the jarringaction on the concrete from the time the molds are lled until they enter the steam chest, the jarring action gradually decreasing during the transit of the molds.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto' aflixed my signature.

WILLIAM H. CAREY. 

